Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag stated the team was "way better" with the ball following their inability to defend a substantial target against the Delhi Capitals in their Indian Premier League 2026 clash at Jaipur on Friday.

Choosing to bat at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Rajasthan Royals had a rough beginning to their innings as their inform openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi were dismissed inside the first two overs respectively by Mitchell Starc and Kyle Jamieson reducing the side to 12/2 in the powerplay.

Skipper Riyan Parag came to the rescue and hit a brilliant 90 off 50 balls. Parag and Dhruv Jurel, who scored 42 off 30 balls, helped the hosts climb from 12/2 with a pivotal 102-run stand. Late hitting by Donovan Ferreira (47 not out off 14 balls) ensured RR reached a total of 225/6 which seemed well above par at the time.

Delhi Capitals made a quick dash towards the target as openers Pathum Nissanka and KL Rahul shared a massive 110-run stand. Nissanka scored 62 off 33 balls before being dismissed while Rahul was adjudged Player of the Match for his game-winning 75 off 40 balls. Although the game went down to the wire Delhi Capitals easily chased down the target with seven wickets and five balls to spare to keep their playoffs hopes alive.

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Speaking after the match Parag stated the team had enough runs on board but failed to hold their nerve in the crucial middle overs of the game.

Parag stated: 

"I think it was a good score. I thought 200 was a par score here. It was going to slow down a bit, but I think we could have bowled way better in the middle overs not let them get away a little too much. And then a lot of boundaries in one single over and that repeated. So I felt we missed the trick with that but no harm with the decision we made."

The RR captain stood firm on the decision to bat first but clearly identified bowling in the middle overs as the difference maker between the two sides and expressed his team "missed the trick" in the middle overs of their innings.

Parag also brushed aside any criticism he has been facing with regards to his form and off-field issue clarifying that any external views are "no matter" to him and his sole concern is team performance.

He Concluded:

"I don't think I need to answer any critics or anyone talking about it. But at the end of the day my job is to get two points. So my score and my innings don't really matter if we lose the game." 

WhileRRnow find themselves fourth on the table DC's victory sees them ascend to sixth place and are just four points away from the playoff qualification zone.